Sometimes things seem a bit off
by Alvar Korenwolf
Summary: Dave Strider doesn't quite get why he sometimes sees things that aren't real, that can't be real. He knows that his friends are alive and well, so why does he keep seeing them die? AU with clear references to the SBURB session. Slight hint at Dave/john. One shot. Pretty sure everyone and his mom already wrote something like this


Your name is Dave Strider and sometimes things just seem to be a bit off. Most people would argue and say that your entire life is off, after all you and your bro don't exactly have the most normal of lifestyles. But when you say something is off you don't mean the ironic shit. Hell, you love the ironic shit. The shades that hide your eyes, the words that hide your thoughts, the smuppets in the cupboard. Ok, so maybe you don't really like that last one, you were fine with the weird ass puppets your bro has in the beginning but frankly, they're beginning to freak you out a bit.  
You break out of your reverie, you have no idea where you were going with it anyway, and go to the kitchen. As you reach for the fridge you notice a little note is pinned to it with a shuriken. It holds only three words: _strife roof now_. Most people probably think you're referring to things like this when you tell them your life seems a bit off, but you're not, this is good. You pick up your sword and make your way to the roof, ready to fight Bro. You are, however, not yet ready for the conversation Bro apparently wants to have but you will be soon, after you and Bro had your strife.  
The fight had taken quite a while, even Bro is panting heavily. The two of you lay down next to each other, worn out from the fight. "Boss couldn't handle all my Strider-ness" He says, staring up at the sky. You nod, he got fired, again. "Your boss was one of many, he will not be the first, nor the last," you say, "what I am trying to say, big bro, is that there are other bosses in the sea and they'll be happy to have you, damn lucky even." He puts his hand on his heart. "Yeah, you're right. My old boss doesn't know what he's just ran out of." You sit up and turn your head to look at him ready to take this metaphor to the very depths of irony. For a minute you see him lying there, covered in his own blood and with his favourite sword through his chest. It looks too real, you don't doubt that if you reach out your hands would be covered in the sticky red mess that's spreading out around him. You blink and the blood is gone. There's just Bro, healthy and well, looking at you with a worried expression on his face. "It's ok little bro, I'll get a new job. We'll just have to cut down on some of our more fancy dinners. I get that saying goodbye to that high class take-away is going to be hard but I'm sure we'll manage." He says, rambling a bit. You're crying and it's freaking him out, you never cry. And that's what you mean when you say that sometimes things seem a bit off. You'll give that maybe you were downplaying it just a little bit but you're not good enough to turn this shit ironic.

You're the cool kid with the dorky friend, it's as cliché as it gets and you keep telling everyone you're doing it for the sheer irony of it all. You're lying. John is the best friend in the fucking universe. He's this big bundle of energy that always sees the best in things. If the guy ever got robbed he'd probably say that he was in need of a new wallet anyway. You wait by the school gates until he shows up, you didn't sleep well last night and you had wanted out of the house. You kept seeing Bro lying dead on the roof. John gets dropped off by his dad like the dork that he is. He runs up to you and then stops awkwardly. You can't help but smile, his half-assed attempts to keep his attraction to you hidden are one of the things you love so much about him. You'd play along if you weren't a little afraid that someone else might make a move on him if you don't mark him as your territory. So you press him against your chest and whisper _good morning egderp_ in his ear. Subtly enough for John to think that no one will notice, clear enough for everyone else to see that he's yours. He blushes mumbles something and then makes a point of not looking at you. He turns to go inside but stops long enough to grab your hand and drag you with him.  
You don't say much all day and when you do it's so ironic no one really understands what you're saying. You never leave John's side and make sure that you're holding him whenever you can. When school comes to an end John asks you if you want to come over for a while, you just nod. John can be a naïve fool sometimes but even he knows that something's up. His dad doesn't even blink when you get in the car after John, he's used to you tagging along. It started to rain, you follow the raindrops as they glide down the window. Suddenly the rain turns black and you want to close your eyes because you know what's coming, but you can't. So instead you turn your head to face the inevitable. Dad lies motionless against the window, his blood just as dark as the rain. You swallow and turn your head even more. John is looking at the scene before him like he can't believe what's happening, for moment you wonder if that's how you look, and then his chest becomes that horrible shade of red you've grown to hate so much. Your entire vision goes dark and you hear sobbing, it's not until you feel two warm arms encircle you that you realize that it's yourself that you hear. A familiar smell fills your nose, soft hair tickles your face and the best voice in the whole universe whispers reassuring words in your ear. He does a horrible job of it, really, but he tries and it's John and it's good enough for you.

The door is opened almost at the exact same moment you ring the doorbell. Your cousin Rose's constant attempts to one-up her mother are something special. Not quite as awesome as the irony thing you and Bro have going but it comes close. She lets you in and acts like the perfect host for a while, you play along, for the irony of it all of course. When she decides it's been long enough to sufficiently aggravate Mom you go to her room. She starts analysing your behaviour. You don't mind, it's just a thing she does. You try not to cringe when some, most, remarks hit home. A soft nock on the door and then an elegant hand gently slides a plate with cookies and soda on it into the room. Rose picks up a pack of post-it notes and quickly writes something down. You can just read something about AJ before she sticks it to the plate and shoves it back outside. She turns around and you see the room caving in around her. The fear in her eyes is almost tangible and you leap forward. Rose starts to fall apart while you're holding her. No, that's not the right. It's like you and Rose are in two different worlds, it's like you're not even holding her. It's as if you've left her and she's all alone.  
You wake up in your own room with Bro sleeping awkwardly in your chair. The blanket on the floor gives away that falling asleep in your chair was completely intentional. You pick it up and drape it over him. He still has his shades on, looks like he still tried to stay awake for as long as he could. You take your own blanket and sit down on the ground next to him, sleeping in a bed isn't ironic enough for the two of you. You eventually fall asleep to the reassuring noise of his steady breathing.

You're not even surprised when you see Jade being engulfed by flames. There's a certain despair in her eyes that you hadn't seen with any of the others before. It mirrors the one you feel every time something feels off. It's the despair that comes with watching your friends die before your eyes. A little spark of hope flares up in her eyes right before you see real, live Jade again. Maybe, just maybe, she managed to save the person she tried to protect. Jade continues talking and you wonder if she even noticed you just saw her die. Of course she didn't, you've become a goddamn pro at this. The entire world could actually end and your face would remain as impassive as it is now. Your insides are turning, you feel like vomiting and above all you just want to lie down and sleep until it's all over, until the world really has ended, but you keep a straight face. When Jade does notice how absent minded you are you distract her with some ironic shit. You don't even know what you just said and you don't hear her answer. You are listening, you hear her voice but you don't hear words. "You seem so absent today, Dave. Here use this." It takes a while for you to realize what she said, you just stare dumbly at the bright-coloured elastics she just gave you. "I use them to remember stuff, I told you that before, didn't I?" She seems uncertain now. "Shit Jade, this is great. If anything can keep the infamous Strider-mind in check it's these things." You make sure that a bit of honesty shines through in your voice, you really appreciate the gesture. "And John!" She laughs. "You shouldn't forget about you and Rose though," you say, "but let's face it: These little fuckers are the best at it." You take an elastic and put it around your finger. Everyone would merely think it's some of your weird irony again, why else would Dave Strider wear elastics around his fingers?

There are almost no mirrors left in the house. There's probably one in Bro's room, you guess he needs one for shaving. All the others got destroyed and Bro stopped buying new ones. You'd just had it at a certain point. Every time you looked in a mirror you saw a dead version of yourself and every time you would wonder if you died first and your friends died as a consequence of that or if your friends died first and you die as a punishment for failing them. Each one of your friends seemed to have a limited versions of deaths and you just see those over and over again but there seemed to be an infinite number of dead Daves. So you started to break the mirror every time you saw one. You took all your aggression out on those dead versions of yourself.

Things have been great for a while, you haven't seen anyone die in over a month, not even yourself. You're sitting in class, holding hands with John under the table. Clear enough for everyone to see, subtle enough for John to think no one would notice. Next to the teacher stands some poor new kid, forced to stand in front of the entire class so that everyone could stare at him. He looks unnaturally pale, paler than you even. His eyes are what gets your attention though, blood red. Just. Like. Yours. Bright red streaks run down his cheeks and his skin turns grey. Sharp teeth are visible and odd little horns stick out from underneath his messy black hair. Before you can even grasp that what you're seeing isn't real you're on your feet. You realize that it isn't real while you're running up to him but that doesn't stop you. You don't deserve this. He looks at you with anger and hate in his eyes, not an ounce of fear in them. Your fist collides with one of those offensive red eyes and then the two of you are fighting. The way you're fighting is almost comical. It's how little kids fight, not how someone who's been practicing with Bro for as long as he can remember should fight. Karkat yells obscenities while he fights. How do you even know his name is Karkat? You're sure you didn't hear the teacher say it. You notice your own name amongst the insults he's throwing at you. Naturally you both get detention, you give him a not-meant apology and he yells at you some more. He soon becomes part of your small group of friends and you have to admit it's nice to have someone to yell at. You never talk about it, but you think that he sometimes sees things too. You don't mention how he makes a point of not looking at mirrors, or anything else that can serve as a mirror for that matter. Once he said thank you, when he noticed that you never tried to make eye contact from behind your shades, when he noticed he was never forced to look at his own reflection in them.

You've grown to accept it even more now, sometimes you see people die and often those people don't even look human anymore. You don't see everyone you know die, it seems to be limited to your close friends and their parents. But every once in a while something happens like it did with Karkat, not the fighting so far that seems to be a one-time thing. You're just minding your own business when a complete stranger walks by covered in a strange liquid you've come to recognize as blood. Just like Karkat their skin turns into that weird shade of grey and whatever colour their hair is now, in the visions it's always pitch black. They all have horns but you've never seen the same pair of horns, or blood colour, more than twice. Some had other weird things about them too, you once saw a girl with eight pupils in one eye accompanied by a boy with robot legs. You'd seen the boy attack her, only to be pierced by his own lance. Not everyone died, some just seemed extremely hurt or, like the girl, were busy killing someone else. You held your cool pretty well. Your friends realized that something was wrong, how could they not, but you managed to sidestep telling them exactly what. You became clingier as time went by, desperately holding on to their live, unhurt bodies.

Just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. No more dead friends, no more bloodied strangers, no more dead Daves, nothing. It takes a while for you to trust the absence of gory images, you still remember the calm month before you met Karkat. Looking back you realize the entire episode only took about a year and a half out of your life, it felt like so much more. You slowly turn back into the old Dave Strider and you're ready, desperate almost, to write the whole thing off. John smiles more now, so open in his affection, even where others can see, that you realize you really scared him. He had been afraid that he was losing you and now that you were turning back in your old self he wanted to make sure you wouldn't slip away again. For a short while you feel guilty for not telling him but then you think that it's better if he doesn't know about those things, better if he's not burdened with thoughts of friends dying.

Everything is perfectly fine.

Until Rose calls you to ask if Bro can take Mom to the hospital. Bro takes you with him, saying that Rose shouldn't be alone right now. You know the look in Mom's eyes, even if she's drunk, when Bro loads her in the car. You'd seen it in the mirror often enough before you broke all of them.

* * *

I know it would make more sense for Rose to remember things from an 'other life' since she was the seer of light and it was canon that she could do that  
but I can't write Rose, it's as simple as that. I'm not that sure if the Dave I put down is that great but believe me the Rose would be downright horrible.

feel free to point out mistakes/ooc-ness/thoughts

also I love AU like this (they don't have to be sad, this is just my inability to write happy stuff) so if you know of any good fics let me know, it doesn't have to be on this site since I barely read fics here anymore, I usually read them on AO3 but I don't have an account there and I don't feel like making one so I'm uploading here.


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